The Bride
by paulatheprokaryote
Summary: Draco and Astoria's wedding day This story is part of my autumn stories collection to get in the mood for the upcoming season!


Draco laughed nervously as his soon to be father-in-law laughed uproariously, his voice echoing through Malfoy Manor. He was vividly recounting the hassle that his family had to go through to find pumpkins in the middle of spring last year to the group of groomsmen getting dressed in the west corridor. It had taken Astoria all of four hours of being engaged to decide she wanted a fall wedding. It had taken her five hours to decide she wanted the save-the-date dates to be carved into pumpkins.

With summer gone and the cutting air of autumn settling into the manor, Draco had to cast a heating charm. Just outside his window he could see the cars and broomsticks of his friends and family who had gathered to witness the most important day of his life. The red, orange, and yellow leaves from the ancient trees of Malfoy Manor gently wafted onto the pavement and the windshield of the cars. Astoria was right. This was the perfect day for a wedding.

Draco took a long sip out of the custom engraved champagne flute that Astoria had insisted on. THE GRASS IS GREENER AS A MALFOY. He snorted aloud. He smiled at the mental image of Astoria sprawled across their bed in her pajamas with quill and parchment, groaning and moaning about the fact that she couldn't come up with a clever marriage phrase. Draco had no idea that was even a thing and suggested GreenFoy. She didn't quite agree. She told him so as she chucked a sliced avocado at him which he only narrowly dodged. She could have easily been a chaser back at Hogwarts if she had only tried.

Draco stood tall in the mirror, examining himself as he knotted his bowtie. He still looked the same as he always had, only more terrified. Of all the things he'd ever done, this was one of the most intimidating. She could take one look at him standing there waiting for her and sprint back down the aisle to marry someone with a less _complicated_ past.

 _Knock, knock, knock._

The entire party whirled around, glancing at the door. No one made to move. Blaise made an incomprehensible gesture at the door. Draco hurried to it, sure that something had gone awry. Astoria had run off with some Argentinian prince. Did they have monarchies in Argentina? He wasn't sure.

No one was there when he opened the door. "Uh?" Draco began as he leaned to peer into the hallway.

"No! Stay in the room!" A voice chastised him and his lips curved involuntarily.

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, love." He told her playfully, covering his eyes.

"Don't look then." She insisted, shoving her arm against his chest.

"What's this?" He asked her, his hand enveloping her own.

"In case you get cold feet. It's my job to keep them warm." She told him and he could hear the smile on her lips.

"They are perfectly toasty. A bit sweaty even." He told her.

He could easily imagine the face she made. "You're disgusting. Okay, I have to finish getting dressed. See you in a few minutes." He briefly felt her lips against his cheek. It left his cheek warm and tingly.

"A few minutes." He repeated with a broad smile painted on his face.

"You both are vile." Blaise faked a gag as he straightened his bowtie.

"Adorable." Draco amended.

Astoria's father motioned for Draco to come to him. He strided across the room, not exactly looking forward to whatever it was he had to say. The man was intimidating to say the least.

"Son, I'm going to tell you what you need to hear on a day like today. A day that will make or break your entire life." Astoria's father placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. Draco swallowed his thick, coppery tasting saliva audibly.

"When Astoria first brought you home I hardly thought you were worth much of anything. You know my girls are my world and you were just some boy trying to snake his way into my daughter's...garments." He cringed at the thought and Draco did as well. Of all the ways for him to put it.

"But the more time I spent with you the more I saw you grow and mature. I think you've finally earned my daughter's hand. As long as you treat her right and keep her happy I won't have to show you the spot under the oak tree."

"The oak tree? Where Astoria's dog is buried?"

"Dog? Right. The dog is buried there. Sure. We'll go with that," he said darkly. Draco visibly flinched. Astoria's last boyfriend, if he remembered correctly, left for Aruba and no one had heard from him since.

Draco swallowed again. "Well, thank you, sir. It means a lot to me. To both of us." He finally told him.

He grabbed Draco's bowtie, looping the tie over and under with more finesse than Draco could have ever conjured. He paused a moment, frowned, and adjusted it slightly.

"There. Now put on those socks and let's get a move on." He told Draco gruffly with a whack on the shoulder. Draco slipped on the socks that Astoria had given him, laced his dress shoes and glanced at his best friends. Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Adrian Pucey were all dressed head to toe in their dress robes, chuckling and shoving each other lightly on the shoulder.

"Are we ready then?" Blaise turned his attention to Draco, who was being swallowed up with anxiety all over again.

Draco absently nodded, clutching the nearest tufted arm chair for support.

"Remember, Draco, she's the only girl in the world that finds you tolerable, don't vomit on her." Adrian advised helpfully.

"Shut it!" Blaise elbowed Adrian in the ribs before placing both of his hands on Draco's shoulders. It seemed to steady him enough to snap him back to reality.

"Here's the real advice: She loves you, you love her, that's all that matters. All of those people out there don't. It's just you and her."

"Just me and her." Draco repeated. That did make him feel better. He could see her smile radiating just for him and his heart relaxed from the whirlwind rate to a more manageable October air kind of breezy rate. Just him and her.

He fell into step with his best mates and almost father-in-law. They left the west wing and followed the winding hallways to the south corridor. Just outside the decadently framed french doors was the courtyard where everyone he knew was waiting for him. He gulped.

The officiant, a ministry official that was close to the Greengrass family, stood at the door, trying to organize the family. Both Draco and Astoria lacked living grandparents so that portion of the procession was skipped. The next in line was his mother and Astoria's mother with their usher escorts. Then he stood awkwardly behind Astoria's mum who was raving to his mum about how magnificent it was that the chrysanthemums had bloomed just in time for the wedding. His mother was delighted by this and was crooning on and on about her gardening spells she'd taken up. The reality was that a team of herbologists had been called two days ago to be sure Astoria had her dream day. Anything in the world to please her.

Behind him Blaise, Theodore, and Adrian were linking arms with the bridesmaids and trying to convince the ring bearer and flower girl to keep the shouting to a minimum. Somewhere in the wing, Astoria was putting together the final touches and hugging her father, no doubt.

In a blink of an eye Draco was standing at the altar in front of everyone he knew. He barely registered the deep plum dresses of the bridesmaids or the crisp smell of autumn in the air. He barely registered Blaise giving him a reassuring thumbs up or the familiar tune of 'Here Comes the Bride' on the piano. His breath faltered, his heartbeat stopped in its tracks. All he registered was his beautiful bride smiling at him through her lace veil. Her father's arm was entwined with hers, guiding her to him. His mind desperately searched for words to describe her, to commit her like this to memory. Radiant, ethereal, exquisite, ravishing, and marvelous. None of the words he could conjure were enough for her. Words weren't needed for the moment for him to cherish it for eternity.

He faintly recognized the plum and cream bouquet as she handed it off to her sister. Button poms, roses, carnations, ranunculus, and amaranthus. He didn't know or care much what the flowers were. What he cared about was the day they spent picking them out. She had to smell every flower in the entire shop before she could commit to each flower.

"They can't just be pretty, they have to smell nice too. Flowers are more than just a bundle of petals, you know." She lectured him with passionate gesticulation in the store, nearly knocking over a vase. He steadied it just in the nick of time.

Daphne took the bouquet from her and Astoria turned to face her him. Her father tilted his head down a moment, letting go of her arm and placing her hands in Draco's.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today–" Draco couldn't hear a word that came from the officiant's mouth. He was mesmerized by her face smiling up at him. How was it that after everything he had done he deserved this woman?

"Til death do you part?" The officiant phrased the question to him.

"Oh–I do." Draco stammered, feeling his ears tinge slightly pink. She giggled.

"And do you, Astoria, take Draco to be your wedded husband for as long as you both shall live? To have and to hold from this day onward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish 'til death do you part?"

"Oh, I most certainly do." She smirked.

"I hereby pronounce you husband and wife, you may now–" The officiant began. Draco didn't need him to finish his sentence though. He grabbed his wife by the waist, pulled her close, and brushed his lips against hers. She deepened the kiss, pulling him closer to her. She laced her fingers with his and pulled him back down the aisle, more than ready for the reception and honeymoon.

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A/N: This story prompt came from Jenn (ScorpiusRose17/Stille Nacht) from HPFT


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